Lavielle, O’Dea give legislative update at Wilton Senior Center

State Rep's Gail Lavielle and Tom O'Dea talk with seniors about senior-related laws that were passed in the last session during an informational update at the Wilton Senior Center.

State Rep's Gail Lavielle and Tom O'Dea talk with seniors about senior-related laws that were passed in the last session during an informational update at the Wilton Senior Center.

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State Rep's Gail Lavielle and Tom O'Dea talk with seniors about senior-related laws that were passed in the last session during an informational update at the Wilton Senior Center.

State Rep's Gail Lavielle and Tom O'Dea talk with seniors about senior-related laws that were passed in the last session during an informational update at the Wilton Senior Center.

Lavielle, O’Dea give legislative update at Wilton Senior Center

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WILTON — State Reps. Gail Lavielle, R-143, and Tom O’Dea, R-125, came to the Wilton Senior Center on Tuesday afternoon to talk about acts passed during the latest legislative session that will affect Wilton’s oldest residents.

“There are eight bills here in this series, and the first one is the Connecticut version of one going around the country — the Care Act,” Lavielle said. “It’s meant to address caregivers, as 61 percent of the people in Connecticut are over (age) 40. This act allows people to designate someone as the recipient of their information for shots and wound care. Caregivers were previously stuck about everyday needs.”

O’Dea said this act is similar to power of attorney.

“The law says the caregiver can get information from the hospital, and the act requires the hospital to give the information toe the caregiver,” O’Dea said. “Power of attorney can designate this, in another way. It’s very similar. At the hospital, the patient can choose to or choose not to. The patient starts the process, and it crosses HIPA laws.”

Lavielle said HIPA laws actually helped form this act.

“This began with HIPA laws, where spouses were sent home, and (the other) spouse didn’t know about daily care,” Lavielle said. “The AARP is very strong in support of this. You don’t have to be related, and there is no age restriction between 18 and 65.”

O’Dea pointed out that this law does not apply outside Connecticut.

Lavielle said veterans retirement pay — which had been 50-percent tax exempt by the state — is now 100-percent tax exempt after this session. Anyone 62 and over who is a victim of identity theft can order a freeze on their credit report for free, Lavielle said. Another crucial act that will help seniors concerns elder abuse, and various steps that folks can take to prevent or alleviate this horrible occurrence.

“This is a comprehensive elder abuse law,” Lavielle said of Public Act 15-236. “It’s not necessarily physical abuse or neglect; it can be confidence abuse. We have to focus more and more on this as the population ages. A number of laws were passed to prevent actual or possible elder abuse.”

Lavielle called these “probably the most comprehensive public acts” dealing with elder abuse, and among the key benefits are:

• Adding EMS workers to the list of mandated reporters of abuse, neglect, abandonment and exploitation;

• Gives abused elders civil recourse;

• Gives the state training resources;

• Provides people handling an elder’s finances training;

• Prohibits people convicted of murder and manslaughter — an now includes any type of abuse — from inheriting from an abused elder in Connecticut.

Another law, Public Act 15-233, will help the Department of Social Services assess elder abuse.

“This broadens the definition of neglect,” Lavielle said. “It’s not necessarily for someone living alone. It’s a failure to keep someone fed and clean. This act ensures any older person or someone representing them has access to DSS records pertaining to the older person.

O’Dea said this act packs a big punch.

“The biggest thing this act did was it broadened subpoena power for DSS,” O’Dea said. “That’s the best thing that happened for DSS. Under this law, DSs can get a court order to enter a house. They can go in to investigate.”

All the news was not good coming out of Hartford, according to O’Dea.

“The last session was the worst for the estate tax — actually it was a catastrophe for Fairfield County and the elderly who are well-off,” O’Dea said. “We had a cap at $12,000 on the probate fee. Now it can go as high as $1 million. Connecticut is the worst place to die in — now it’s even worse.”